Seed-cotton-drying apparatus



Amin 2, i929. A BENNETT www@ SEED COTTON DRYING APPARATUS Filed March 22, l928 ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 2, E929.

UNTTEE sTaTEs EaTENT ermee,

@EEES Er. EENNEEE, or Namur., aonirsrANA, AssreNoE ro TEE eovEEN- TIENE AND TELE EEoELE or 'rnE UNITED srarEs or Eroe.

SEED-COTTON-DRYING APPARTUS.,

Application led March '22, 1928. Serial No. 263,812.

(GBANTEDUNDER THEACT F MARCH 3, 1883, 22 STAT. 1l.. 625.)

rllhis application is made under the act of March 3,1888, chapter 143 (22 Stat. 625) and the invention herein described and claimed may be used bythe Government of f5 the United States or vany of its ocers orl employees in the prosecution of work for the Government, or any person in the United States, without payment to me of any royalty thereon. l

My invention relates -to new and useful improvements in apparatus vfor drying seedcotton continuously at a quantity rate, and the following is a specification:

Seed-cottonis the raw cotton product harvested directly from the cotton plant, andis the original -cotton product combining the seedand lint,(or bre) together in natural form, and may have portions of thebolls, hulls, plant parts and foreign matter ad-` hering to it when harvested. Y One object of my invention is to provide an apparatus of the character described which will be capable of drying .quantities of seed-cotton 'preparatory to. either` storing or ginning the same. Unless the seed-cotton is suciently dry, the storing or ginning may lessen the possible value and quality of both fibre and seedthrough various deteriorating agencies such as sweating, souring molding, discoloring, napping, ma-

chining, mutilating, and so forth; By properly drying or curing the combination of seed and fibre in its natural original state known as seed-cotton it is possible to provide an eective check and prevention of the above mentioned destructive and deteriorating agencies.

Another object of my invention isto provide a very simple and relatively inexpensive apparatus which will have a minimum number of parts, a minimum requirement for f power, a long life of usefulness with minimum.maintenance, and which will contain the essentialv features of control over the l drying and curing of seed-cotton regardless of the many variations to be foundin the de rees of dampness of the seed-cotton as p we as in atmospheric 'conditions and in the weather generally. j 1n my scientific investigations'u on the subject of dryin seed-cotton, un ertaken as an employee o the Department of Agritelt-uf@ Qf the Umts@ @tatie-'s f America, T

have found-'the basic requirements concerning length of tlme of exposure, temperature of the drying medium and volume of heated cotton-handling equipment (partly -in-secv1tl on) of a type used at cotton gins, in comybinatlon with which my vinvention is particularly emcient;

Figure 2 is-an end elevation of thefmachine y proper, omitting the aforesaid pneumaticmechanical cotton-handling equipment, and showing the b ack panel assembly of the Inach1ne, and looking toward the atmospheric screen or outlet grille.

Sirilar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawingv it will be -seen that my seed-cottondryer comprises a vertical chute assembly consisting of a screened front panel assembly, a screened back panel assembly, blank sides 15 and 15 resting upon the floor and supporting the apparatus by suitable means, a cotton inlet hopper 5 with inclined hopper-aprons 5 and 5b, an endless conveyor assembly, a cotton trunk outletllla,

and other appurtenances hereinafter fully described. This vertical chute assembly may be enclosed, if desired, by suitable lmeans (not shown) 'lhe vertical sides 15 and 15 are supported l by the floor and form the blank side walls of the vertical chute 8 which is defined between said sides 15 and 15 and the front and back screened panel assemblies. ln cotton drying practice, the throat or least width of the vertical chute 8 as measured for instance between the screened surfaces 12 and 12 should referably vnot exceed six inches, and the breadth of the vertical chute 8 as measured between the Afaces of the sides 15 and 15 `should preferably range between four and six feetall for reasons set 'forth' hereinafter. The screened front panelassembly comprises th-Vt1Cal blank panel 14 wlnch eg:

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tends laterally between the sides 15 and 15', the inlet grille 13 which extends laterally between the sides 15 and 15', the chute grille 12 similar `to inlet grille 13, and the inclined hopper-apron 5a which extends laterally between the sides 15 and 15. h

The vertical blank panel 14 and the vertical chute grilles 13 and 12 all lie in the same vertical plane and are joined to each other and to the sides 15 and 15 and to the inclined hopper-apron 5 by suitable means at the places of junction thereto.

rlhe screened back panel assembly comprises the vertical blank panel 14', the vertical chute grilles 13 and 12 and the inclined` hopper-apron 5b-all of which extend laterally between the sides 15 and 15 and are joined together and to said sides 15 and 15 by suitable means at the places of junction thereto.

Mounted upon the screened front panel assembly by suitable means and attached to the sides 15 and 15 by suitable means are the cabinet or duct members 17", 17, 19, 19a and 19b which form the chambers W and Y which are substantially air-tight ducts or passages used to confine continuously flowing currents of heated atmosphere in the channels or paths delineated by the ventilation arrows of Figure l.

Mounted upon the screened back panel assembly by suitable means and attached to the sides 15 and 15 by suitable means are the cabd inet or duct members 18, 18a and 18b Which c form the substantially air-tight duct or passage X which is used to confine the continuously flowing currents of heated atmosphere in the channels or paths delineated by the ventilation arrows of Figure 1.

The discharge ofthe fan 7 connects by suitable means to the heater casing trunk or duct 17 within which are disposed the heater elements or radiation surfaces 16 which may be either steam, hot water or furnace radiation surfaces.

rllhe heater casing trunk 17 is of substantially air-tight construction and is attached by suitable means to the .sides 15 and 15 and to the ymembers 1 7a and 17b so as to make av substantially air-tight junction with the chamber W.

rlhe fan 7 may be driven by any source of power (not shown) such as a line shaft, or motor or engine. rlfhe suction intake of the fan 7 may draw its atmosphere either directly from the atmosphere or from the cottonhandling apparatus pipe 6 as delineated, or from other cotton handling devices (not shown). 5

Disposed between the sides 15 and 15" is the endless conveyor assembly which comprises the shafts 23, 23 and 23", the chains 10 .and 10", the sprockets 11, the bearings 23', the cross-members 9 and the variable speed mechanism 20, 21 and momen 'llhe shafts 23, 23a and 23b rotate within the bearings 23 which are attached to the sides 'liveredto the endless conveyor assembly by means of the cone-and-belt combination as delineated or yby other suitable reduction gearing (not shown), and travel of the endless conveyor assembly is counterclockwise as shown in Figure 1.

The run diagonally upward between the shafts 23 and 23a is preferably exposed for ready access and'repair purposes; the run along the surface of the hopper-apron 5b and between the shafts 23a and 23b is preferably adjusted so as to keep the said hopper-apron cleared of such seed-cotton as may be delivered thereto; and the downward vertical run within the vertical chute 8 and between the shafts 23b and 23 is preferably adjusted to maintain a uniform clearance of the chains 10 and 10 andthe cross-members 9 with respect to the various screened surfaces and panels which comprise the said chute 8.

From the foregoing it will be evident that operation of my drying apparatus is very simple.

Seed-cotton is preferably delivered to the hopper 5 by means of the pneumatic-mechanical cotton-handling devices delineated, in

which the seed-cotton is sucked'from bins or wagons (not shown) into the telescope land passes thence through the flexible bell joint 2 and cotton piping 3 into the cotton separator or dropper' 4 where the seedcotton is automatically separated from the currents of flowing atmosphere by means of screen devices such as 4a and the revolving vacuum wheel 4b.

After passing through the screen member 4a the atmosphere continues through the cotton pipe 6 and lair-valve 6 into the suction and intake of the fan 7 or to some other source of suction (not shown). Cotton gins make use of the conventional air-valve device 6 in order to control the rate of feed of cotton to the various devices, and it is here delineated -with the devices 1, 2, 3 and 4 to illustrate one the screens 13 and 13 into the chamber X where it is dedected so as to pass through the i screens 13 and 12 into the chamber Y whence it is again deflected so as to pass through the screens l2 and 12 out into the external atmosphere at Z.

lncoming seed-cotton is fe-d into the hopper 5 and passes downward through the chute `8 and out at the cotton trunk outlet 14a where through the chute 8in conjunction with the moving endless conveyor mechanism provides a substantially continuous layer of seed-cotton passing through the-chute 8 and receiving the direct penetration by the drying medium during the length of time of exposure within the vertical chute 8. l employ the cotton trunk outlet 14:a to act-as a seal which will prevent undue escape of the drying medium by short-circuits or leaks as it passes from the chamber W tothe chamber X.

l also preferably confine the throat distance ofthe chute 8 to six inches or less, because a greater thickness of seed-cotton traveling in a layer of the character described will otter undue pressure resistance to the flow of the -drying medium, and will not secure a uniform drying eect or penetration. I yalso preferably retain the breadth of the vertical chute 8 (between the sides 15 and 1,5)

within the limits of four 'to six feet, so that standard feeding apparatus on the market may be used as delineated.

From the foregoing it will be evident that my apparatus provides a multi-stage or multi-pass drying apparatus arranged` to l have the incoming damp seed-cotton make a contact lwith the outgoingl moisture-laden drying medium, and to have the outgoingy dryest seed-cotton receiving its final penetration from the hottest, incoming currents of the drying medium.- By the construction emf uary 27, 1920,

ed atmosphere to dry a large varietyoitI damp seed-cottons. Means for controlling the speed of the endless conveyor assembly may be accomplished by reduction gearing such as is shown in Patent No. 1,329,082, issued'J anl claim:

A seed-cotton apparatus of the character described, in combination with a substantially vertical enclosed screened chute or passage having a cotton inlet and a cotton outlet, grilles or screens disposed within. the planes of the faces of the Said chute so that seed-cotton may be conveyed through said chute while being subjected to currents of heated atmosphere without losing seed-cotton from said chute, .an endless conveyor mechanism disposed to convey seed-cotton from the cotton inlet of said chute to the cotton outlet of said chute, means for regulating the speed of movement of the 'conveyed seedcotton within said chute, a heated-atmosphere generator or radiation surfaces,a series of ducts and chambers disposed with relation to said radiation surfaces and said vertical chute so as to provide a substantially airtight series or passages for the continuous iiow of heated atmosphere, a fan or blower for delivering atmosphere through the said radiation surfaces and through said series of cotton continuously into said chute at a predetermined rate.

CHARLES ABEL BENNETT. 

